Masters Women at NYC Marathon: Sumner Dominates in a Class of Her Own

• D. Leigh Sumner, 67, wins in 2:27:55 — a 5:38/mi average that left the rest of the Masters Women field over an hour behind.
• Sumner held the lead wire-to-wire, never leaving the top women's spot from the first checkpoint through the finish, and posted the fastest women's split on the 3M→5K segment.
• Puspa Poarangan, 46, takes 2nd in 3:33:58 — more than an hour back but steady throughout, picking up the 4th-fastest women's split on the 4M→5M stretch.
• Davaasuren Batkhuu, 45, finishes 3rd in 3:43:58, running the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 3M→5K segment — the same stretch where Sumner was fastest.

There was no suspense at the front of the Masters Women's race — D. Leigh Sumner of Newton Grove, NC made that clear from the start. The 67-year-old never relinquished her lead among the women, sitting in the top women's spot at every single checkpoint and crossing in 2:27:55 at a blistering 5:38/mi. For context, her nearest competitor finished more than an hour and six minutes later. The 3M→5K segment was where Sumner was at her sharpest, logging the fastest women's split on that stretch.

Behind Sumner, a quiet battle played out between Poarangan and Batkhuu. Poarangan, a New Yorker racing in her home city, came home 2nd in 3:33:58 (8:10/mi), while Batkhuu — making the trip from Ulaanbaatar — finished 3rd in 3:43:58 (8:33/mi), a gap of exactly ten minutes between them. Notably, it was Batkhuu who ran the faster 3M→5K split of the two, claiming 3rd-fastest among the women on that segment to Poarangan's 4th-fastest on 4M→5M — each finding her moment on a different stretch of the course.

Nadine McNeil, 60, of the Bronx crossed 4th in 4:55:47 and earned the fastest women's split on the 25K→16M segment — a bright mid-race surge. Melanie Mel, 41, out of Tampa, finished 5th in 5:33:05 and owned the fastest women's split on the 13M→Half segment, showing her best running came in the race's middle miles. Tracey White, 61, of Kew Gardens finished 6th in 6:37:23, and Trisa Harris, 58, of New York rounded out the seven-woman field in 7:38:51.